Returning to his apartment, Atsushi Shirakawa turned on the light.
He inserted the Onmyoji game cartridge into the console, then turned on the television and began playing.
The familiar background music filled the room—the soundtrack he had composed for the game.
Even though he had already completed it once, Atsushi still wanted to savor it again.
"Ah~ Pokeni... it's just perfect."
A complex smile spread across Atsushi's lips, a mix of satisfaction, joy, and a hint of melancholy and regret.
Onmyoji was the ideal game in his heart, and Pokeni's President, Aoki Haruhi, had not only lived up to his expectations but far surpassed them.
The game's visuals and narrative had perfectly captured the pure, melancholic atmosphere of his music. These elements worked together in harmony, creating a flawless experience.
This was exactly what he had envisioned.
Atsushi felt a surge of emotion.
"President Qing really is something. To have brought the game to such a level..."
At the same time, his brow furrowed. Lately, whenever he closed his eyes at night, the scene of Aoki Haruhi sitting right here, earnestly inviting him to join Pokeni, would always come to mind.
But back then, with no game development experience, Atsushi hadn't had the courage to accept.
Working as a composer at Pharaoh Kong wasn't bad, per se. Even with decent sales, Pokeni remained a small company.
In contrast, Pharaoh Kong had established itself in the industry with acclaimed series like Ys and Legend of Heroes, even showing signs of challenging Square, the company behind Final Fantasy.
Pharaoh Kong was clearly more stable and promising, yet for some reason...
Atsushi Shirakawa always felt like an outsider, and composing music for them left him with a sense of disappointment.
Or rather, it wasn't as wonderful and fulfilling as he had originally imagined.
Currently, Atsushi Shirakawa was working in the music department for Legend of Heroes II. While not the lead composer, he had significant involvement. However, both the style and themes of the music were distinctly Western.
The longer he worked there, the more he realized this wasn't the music he truly wanted to create.
Atsushi Shirakawa longed to create international-style orchestral music that blended Japanese national characteristics—music that was pure, natural, and healing to the soul.
In short, his idol was the master Joe Hisaishi.
Aoki Haruhi had been completely right.
"Ah~ I really, really want to go to Pokeni!"
Atsushi Shirakawa sighed, clutching his controller.
"Is it really true that everyone should experience a galgame at least once in their lifetime?" Kinoshita Jun, an office worker at a regular company, sighed as he flipped through the latest issue of Famitsu.
"Mmm-hmm~ Not at all," Koze Furukawa replied, sliding into the seat beside him and staring intently at the screenshots of Yuuki Rei in the magazine.
Just thinking about Rei's final ending made Koze's heart ache in waves.
"Want to try it? I happen to have a copy of Onmyoji." He suggested to Kinoshita.
"No way, you've already played it? I heard this galgame is amazing. A true kindred spirit, I see." Kinoshita grinned. "You absolutely must let me play it."
"Of course." Koze smiled.
He hadn't had a chance to recommend this game to anyone else.
The main reason was that Onmyoji is a galgame, even though it has no explicit content.
But people automatically assume it's some kind of perverted game.
It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but since Kinoshita seemed interested, Furukawa decided to spill the beans.
At that moment, Kinoshita couldn't decipher the meaning behind Furukawa's enigmatic smile.
But two days later, he finally understood.
"Furukawa, are you even human?" Kinoshita asked, clutching his aching chest, his face exhausted. "This Onmyoji game is pure torture. I stayed up all night after beating it yesterday."
"Right?!"
Furukawa laughed. "I felt the exact same way. Seeing you go through this brings me a tiny bit of comfort."
Kinoshita froze, then his eyes widened. "Koze Furukawa, please act like a decent human being!"
"Hahaha, so what's your plan?" Koze Furukawa asked.
"Well..." Kinoshita paused, then a cunning smile crept across his lips.
"I'm going to introduce Onmyoji to that Uesugi guy."
"He shouldn't be the only one suffering."
"Hahaha..."
The two burst into laughter.
Men's happiness is that simple.
The popularity of Onmyōji showed no signs of waning. As July arrived, the game's heat intensified, mirroring the summer weather.
Summer was the perfect season for playing galgame.
Many players flocked to stores in droves, and Onmyōji cartridges quickly sold out, even leading to stock shortages.
Those game stores that had previously hesitated to stock the game due to Pokeni's small size now bitterly regretted their decision.
Tokyo.
Akihabara Street, KAK Games retail chain.
A young man burst through the door and immediately asked, "Manager, do you have Onmyōji here?"
"Hmm? Never heard of it," the manager replied.
"What? You don't even have Onmyōji?"
"I'm really sorry."
"If you don't even have Onmyōji, you're way behind the times!"
"Huh?!"
The manager's face paled in shock.
"Huh?!"
Hattori Yuji, the President of Dongrun Entertainment Co., Ltd., was utterly shocked.
"Is Onmyōji really this popular?!"
Dongrun was a diversified entertainment company with numerous brands and subsidiaries, including bookstores, magazines, audio-visual products, and electronic entertainment.
Its Golden Thumb game specialty store chain was one of the largest game retailers in the Tokyo area.
"Yes, President," his female secretary, wearing black-rimmed glasses, nodded seriously. "According to our preliminary figures, Onmyōji's total sales have already surpassed eighty thousand units. Reaching one hundred thousand should be no problem."
"One hundred thousand?!"
Hattori Yuji was completely stunned.
Earlier, at Tsuda Nao's request, he had reluctantly ordered a batch of Onmyōji cartridges, expecting the company to fail. But he never imagined—
Even when the game was relegated to a corner, it sold out completely.
What did this mean?
A product that couldn't even be kept hidden would inevitably be a shining goldmine.
"And..." the secretary hesitated.
Hattori gave her an encouraging look, urging her to continue.
"And many players have been asking if we carry Onmyoji. They want us to stock it. Otherwise..." The secretary gritted her teeth and said, "Dongrun will fall behind."
Hattori Yuji fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"No need to worry about that. After all, we're Tokyo's largest game distributor. Pokeni won't mind."
He calmly spun his chair, tapping his fingers on the wooden desk.
He had previously thought poorly of this company, but now that they were doing so well, it was time to give them a chance.
"Hmm... Fujiki, call Pokeni's President. And President Tsuda, too. I'll invite them to dinner."
"Understood, President."
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